Vitamin D and immune response: implications for prostate cancer in African Americans

Frontiers in Immunology

Adam eMurphy¹  Rick eKittles²  Ken eBatai²  Larisa eNonn³ 

[1] Northwestern University;University of Arizona;University of Illinois at Chicago;

关键词: African Americans;    Inflammation;    Vitamin D;    prostate cancer;    Health Disparities;    COX-2;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2016.00053

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer among men in the U.S.African American (AA) men have a higher incidence and mortality rate compared to European American (EA) men, but the cause of PCa disparities is still unclear.Epidemiologic studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is associated with advanced stage, and higher tumor grade and mortality, while its association with overall PCa risk is inconsistent.Vitamin D deficiency is also more common in AAs than EAs, and the difference in serum vitamin D levels may help explain the PCa disparities.However, the role of vitamin D in aggressive PCa in AAs is not well explored.Studies demonstrated that the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, has anti-inflammatory effects by mediating immune-related gene expression in prostate tissue.Inflammation also plays an important role in PCa pathogenesis and progression, and expression of immune-related genes in PCa tissues differs significantly between AAs and EAs.Unfortunately, the evidence linking vitamin D and immune response in relation to PCa is still scarce.This relationship should be further explored at a genomic level in AA populations that are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency and fatal PCa.

【 授权许可】

Unknown